NO

says Alice Dogruyol

alIcE Dogruyol, 40, runs jeans label Beauty in curves and has struggled with her weight. AS A big girl, I can tell you with certainty that having greater access to beautiful clothes that fit well is not the reason I am overweight.

And seeing clothes on someone like stunning plussize supermodel Ashley Graham does not increase my struggle to lose the pounds.

If anything, the opposite is true. Wearing clothes that fit and flatter me makes me feel better about myself. The result is that I’m more likely to look after myself, and less likely to overeat.

Universities and governments need to focus their resources on the root causes of obesity and not on lambasting fashion brands for making clothes in bigger sizes.

Obesity is a complex issue, with lots of causes. Having access to larger, more flattering clothes is not one of them.

We live in a society, in which everything conspires to encourage obesity. Sugar is hidden in everything — even, I discovered recently, in a supermarket roast chicken.

Dietary advice changes from day to day; we live sedentary lives and work so hard that there’s little time for exercise. Most importantly of all, we are not given the tools to help us to deal with day-to-day stress.

My theory is that inability to deal with emotional stress lies at the heart of obesity. Many overweight people, like me, self-medicate symptoms of stress, depression and unprocessed grief with food. Sugar has been proven to have a similar effect on the brain to cocaine, increasing dopamine levels — food is a drug.

Arguably, it is the hardest drug of all to kick, as we can’t cut it from our lives; we can only try to control it.

Losing my grandmother as a child was the trigger for my comfort eating. Suddenly, my main source of love was stripped away, and I was grief-stricken.

As I grew up, all sorts of other high-stress life events exacerbated my comfort eating: exams, break-ups, work problems, money problems, miscarriage. Food soothed the pain.

While I’d like to lose some weight, my body is not designed to be skinny. Healthy bodies come in all shapes and sizes. I have never been within the ‘healthy’ realm on a BMI chart.

Fat-shaming is not the answer for those who are overweight. Neither is criticising fashion companies for plus-size styles.

What obese people need is more encouragement and support, not negativity.